Dawn of Exertion
by Awsomaniatica
Summary: A new generation of heroes begins, ready to make their mark and protect their world. The hero gig isn't as easy as it may seem, especially with new enemies, drifting relationships, and other heroes beginning to go missing… Follows years later of my other story featuring the West Family, "The West Family Chronicles".
1. Chapter 1

_A new generation of heroes begins, ready to make their mark and protect their world. The hero gig isn't as easy as it may seem, especially with new enemies, drifting relationships, and other heroes beginning to go missing… Follows years later of my other story featuring the West Family, "The West Family Chronicles"._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the DC Universe characters. Only the OC's._

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><p><strong>Metropolis <strong>

**May 28, 2036 22:41 CDT**

A thin stench of gasoline and other odors remained in the air of the big city. Buildings glowed in dim lights as the night rolled in. The streets were practically vacant save for the occasional few walking along carefully and quickly. A Hispanic young woman with dark brown hair tied in a loose ponytail with a green hair tie and wearing a purple v-necked ruffled elbow-sleeved knee length dress with long black leggings and black ankle boots came around the corner, her dark chocolate brown eyes glancing around. Her companion, a tall teenager with a thin layer of jet black hair and wearing a white T-shirt underneath a dark gray jacket and dark jeans, carefully did the same in opposite directions as if searching for something.

The sounds of glass breaking immediately caught their attention. Both of their heads jerked towards the nearest building, a closed lab facility called _Stagg_ _Enterprises_. Neither speak nor look the least bit worried. Instead, the young woman narrows her eyes towards the building as the young man's expression remains stoic as he stares blankly towards the building.

"And the night stirs," The young woman softly says to herself. She turned to her companion, inquiring, "How many?"

The young man continued to stare, his pupils slightly hazy. He blinked, his eyes returning back to their dark color. "At least four, maybe five. Mainly on the second level."

She gives her companion a direct look followed by a nod. He repeats her process before slightly turning away. He closes his eyes and puts the tips of his fingers lightly to his forehead as if to concentrate.

"_Go time_," He replies in his head.

Not a moment later, a feminine voice telepathically gave an exasperated sigh before answering him, "_Finally! Some action! We've been waiting around forever!_"

A different voice, male, answered back with a short laugh, "_Of course, it was forever on your terms. You can never stay still, even when bribed._"

The female voice retorted back, "_What do you expect, '_Mr., Perfect'_? Speedsters are always moving_."

The young man internally groaned, squeezing his eyes tighter at their playful teasing. "_I am not a free hotline…" _

The male voice apologized, "_Sorry K'dnn. We're almost there." _

"They were at it again?" The Hispanic young woman asked, knowing.

"Yes," The young man, K'dnn, answered with a hint of annoyance as he reopened his eyes.

"Figures," She shook her head in disbelief as she held a fisted hand towards herself, rubbing her large ring on her right hand. Soon her whole body started to glow in a vaguely green light. Two blurs, one barely flying and the other on the ground, zoomed past the pair like wind lightly blowing for a brief second.

Inside the building, three thieves rummaged through drawers and cabinets of the laboratory office, not caring about the mess they left in their search. The one with crooked teeth emptied out another container before grinning and replying to another, "Hey Joe, it's a good thing we got the right alarm codes, huh."

"Yes," Joe answered in annoyance while rolling his eyes. "Very handy so not to get the cops or whatever here. Now hurry up!"

A whoosh entered in the room. "Hurry up? For what?"

The three thieves turn quickly at the new voice, their guns pointed. Crooked teeth slightly whimpered at the sight of a young man standing near the window, his arms folded over his blue shirt with a bold red S insignia. "It's the Superkid!"

The hero refrained from rolling his eyes. "Superkid is so juvenile. The name's Steel."

Another blur entered into the room, forming into a teen in two red pigtails, wearing a yellow and white full bodysuit in a lightning fashion. "And don't forget the brilliant Impulse."

Steel gave a light laugh as he addressed his partner without turning towards her. "Now you show up."

Impulse folded her arms in a similar position, giving a quick glance to the junior Super. "Oh, please. You just cheated with flight."

The two young heroes are cut short on their competitive banter when they hear the click of gun safeties being turned off. Impulse moved out of the way a quarter of a second before gunshots rang out. Steel continued to stand there as the bullets bounced right off of him.

"Show off," Impulse mumbled as she zoomed past, taking the guns right out of the crooks hands, earning fearful gasps.

One man begins punching at anything in attempts to stop the female speedster. A second picks up a bar and runs towards Steel with a battle cry. Steel smoothly evades a few times before growing tired of the pathetic escapade and firmly grabs the offending bar, snatching it right out of the crook's hands. The first gives up on fighting the speedster and runs towards the boy of steel with a knife. The third crook runs out of the room in a frenzy.

"I got Mr. Ponytail," Impulse announced, giving chase.

As the female speedster went down the hall after her target, another figure spotted her and backed into the room unnoticed. The crook with sideburns went to his boss who was still looking through cabinets. "Montez, we got the junior heroes." He whispered.

Montez ignored his henchman as he closed the door to unlock another. "Let the others handle them. We are not leaving until we find the G31ASX." As soon as he said it, the boss spotted what he was looking for. "Ah… gotcha." He carefully put the faintly glowing bottle in a small box and into a bag. "Now let's get out of here."

As the pair of thieves moved around the mess to leave, Montez felt the bag start to lift on its own in his hand. Sideburns began to freak out at the sight. "It's a ghost!"

A quiet chuckle sounded from their right. "Not quite," A green Martian teenager came into view, his hand outstretched towards the bag. Sideburns took off running, inevitably tripping over some of the mess.

"You fool," Montez growled, glaring his incompatible hired help. The boss turned towards the young hero with his eyes narrowed and grip tighter on his prize as he held it closer to his chest. "It's only Martian Boy."

Zephyr blankly blinked at the nickname. "That's a new one," He said in a monotone voice.

Montez pulled out his gun and wasted no time firing at the Martian. K'dnn reacted and shifted his density, the bullet going through air and ramming into the wall behind him. Living up to his hero name of wind, Zephyr sent a telekinetic wave like a gust of wind towards the crook, knocking him over and causing the gun to slide across the floor. Both Sideburns and Montez decided to take a run for it. Just as they were about to go through the empty doorway, a green shield appeared and blocked their exit. Sideburns ran into the shield hard, tumbling over and out.

The green shield shrunk in size, the glow retracting back as a dark haired young woman in a full green ensemble with a faint mask floated in, tisking at the man. "Not so fast, _compadre_."

Once she touched the ground, the faint green glow around her dissipated, but remained around her large ring on her right hand. The emerald color light continued to grow, enveloping around her whole fist. Montez jerked his head around when the bag flew out of his hand and into the awaiting arms of Zephyr. Montez turned back around to watch the female Green Lantern construct a large glowing fist.

The four heroes easily rounded up and tied the five crooks together. When interrogating Montez on who sent him and his goonies and why, he honestly had no idea, using the excuse that he took the job for the pay and was only given more vague details when it was finished. Irey got the leader's phone and downloaded the contact list on an SD card. This trick was taught by a couple members of the Batfamily who would be in no doubt one of the ones to decode it later.

After sirens are heard approaching, the Team leaves the building and disappears through a hidden alleyway. A flash of light illuminates the darkness before dissipating just as quickly.

**_Recognized: Green Lantern C10, Steel C03, Zephyr C09, Impulse C07._ **

The group of teenagers materializes and walks out from the blinding light and into the Watchtower. Impulse took off her cowl, showing off her freckled cheeks and her bright green eyes. "Well, as always, it appears that Oracle's Intel was right. Someone planned to strike either Stagg Enterprises or Daggett Industries." Irey edged on the Green Lantern. "Of course it was your guys' building."

Green Lantern, or Milagaro Reyes, rolled her eyes. "And that means it has to be a competition with you." Milagaro gave a smirk when she recognized the small pout of the red head. "I will take a wild guess and say that Chris beat you to the building."

Steel, or Chris Kent, laughed as Irey's pout deepened. Irey West was quick to defend herself. "Of what? Two seconds because he could fly? I have to build up momentum to scale up buildings," Irey turned toward the Super as she promised with a pointing finger, "Next time I'll beat you."

Chris shook his head, still chuckling. "That has been your claim for the past dozen or so times."

"Oh yeah? How about an actual race with no extra advantages. We'll see the outcome then."

Milagaro cleared her throat, getting in between the two speed competitors. "Look, we need to head up and hand in the collected samples and info to figure out why they were after this." She held up the tiny baggie containing the almost stolen formula with the name written outside of it.

"Agreed," K'dnn Kent added, rolling his eyes. "You two can have your little race at a later time."

Irey and Chris narrowed their eyes at each other as they gave smirks. "Deal,"

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><p><strong>Young Justice Cave<strong>

**May 29 14:37 EST **

Diana West closed her eyes and purged her lips to let out a calming breath. Her thick black hair was tightly pulled back, a few thin strands hanging loosely away from her face. She wore sleeveless solid green top and black pants.

One arm down her side, she wiggled her fingers in her dark fingerless glove. With the other hand, she smoothly rubbed the dark engraved wood of her bow. The thirteen year old stood in the middle of the training room, almost completely still. Silence filled the air around her as she blocked out any other background noise.

Slowly, a machine clicked as a target rose from the ground. Diana's eyes snapped open as she swiftly grabbed an arrow from her quiver and shot it in the same second. Direct bull's-eye. Another target clicked, this time from above. She shifted and let the arrow fly. A click on her other side and she immediately switched the bow to her right hand, hitting center. She continued to maneuver around with precision as targets appeared around the room randomly. One more click, close to her right. She never turned while letting her arrow loose. Dead center.

A buzz sounded, indicating the end of the exercise. Diana gave a smile as she relaxed her stance. Looking at the scoreboard, an overwhelming feeling of pride beamed through her. She beat her previous score by 2 ¼ seconds.

As she went over towards the shelves of basic weaponry to put her bow up, a metallic click caught her off-guard. Diana firmly held the bow at her side as she turned at the sound. The youngest West sibling instantly relaxed and quietly let out a relieved sigh. So caught up in her training exercise, she momentarily forgot she wasn't the only one currently using the training room.

In the far corner, a nineteen year old with electric red hair was benching presses. His arms were covered with long black sleeves and dressed in sweatpants. He seemed to be in his own world, his concentration completely focused on the heavy weights above him as he moved in a smooth motion. Up for a few seconds, then back down. Up, then down.

Diana remembers when he first came to her siblings' team a few months ago. Archiban Quintel, or preferred as Arch, used to be a normal guy beginning to decide what direction to take in his life. Circumstances on what one would call being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Arch ended up in outer path of a meteor crash followed by an explosion that he had no way of avoiding in time. He would absorb a large amount of the stone-metal like material and later use it as a full body armor. Icon and Blue Beetle found and talked him down when he accidentally destroyed a building from a previously unknown additional result to the accident. Red energy blasts.

Since that encounter, it was decided to allow Arch to train with the other heroes to better develop his new abilities and eventually join the new reformed Young Justice team. He would take on the name Meteor, as fittingly named from how he gained his abilities. Arch tended to be a loner, often keeping to himself most of the time, but he would be one to immediately jump in and aid others any way he can.

The young man placed down the weights on the bar above him and rested a moment. Arch leaned up, his elbows resting on the pad as he took careful slow breaths. He glanced over to Diana. She gave a simple nod in greeting before heading over to put her quiver of arrows up. With her back turned, Diana heard the young man pick up the weights once again.

The dark haired teenager reached for the water bottle sitting on the bench nearby and drank about half of it at once. She paused, examining each target she completed in accuracy. Her dark gray eyes looked down over her bow. She spotted a slightly loose string, instantly working to fix it.

Clapping behind her immediately shifted her attention. A sixteen year old with dark tanned skin and a skinny braid to the left of her face mostly hidden within her long blonde hair walked in. She was barefoot and wore a flowing white skirt that went to her knees and a light blue stripped shirt with sleeves to her elbows. An enthusiastic smile spread across her face.

"The Huntress strikes again!" Diana raised an eyebrow at her friend. Ryalani, or better known as Ryla, ignored the younger teenager's look as she continued, "Diana the Huntress. It's perfect…" Ryla trailed off, glancing around the room with her bright sea green eyes before adding, "And obviously your targets are too."

Diana reached over and picked up a spare bow, holding it out in front of her. "You're welcome to practice as well."

Ryla shook her head and held up her hand. "Pass. I would only make a fool of myself attempting. Besides, that's more of your superb talents. I am better with water." She added to herself while looking around, "And other things."

Diana shrugged, putting her own and the extra bow back up. Ryla's eyes brightened as a smile reappeared on her face.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Blue Beetle is here to help with combat training and wanted us to come. I think he was about to pair the _Zealous_ Zachary Zatara and our ever so _Enchanting_ Robin together for a demonstration." She rolled her eyes as she spoke her fellow teammates' names, sarcasm rolling off her tongue.

"Sure," Diana gave a small smile. "I need some entertainment."

Ryla looked over in Arch's direction. "Hey Arch," She called out to him. The nineteen year old sat down the weights to look up. Ryla continued, "Coming for a combat demonstration of Zack and Rob? It will be a must see!"

Arch slowly stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "Why not," He headed over near the girls, towering over them. "It should be interesting to watch."

"Exactly!" The bubbly blonde answered with a grin. "Which means we better hurry before they finish too soon." Arch and Diana followed the half-Atlantian out.

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><p><strong>Keystone <strong>

**23:27 CDT **

A seventeen year old leaned against the wall of a building in the quiet city, kicking up some loose pebbles while bored out of his mind. Jai internally groaned again, letting his head hang. With finals finally done and graduation around the corner, of course neither his home city nor its sister, Central, would make a peep of a baddie wanting to come out to play. Now that he had time and wasn't cramming with studying. Jai, or rather Kid Flash as his bold red costume with thin lightning like white lines down the sides would exhibit, listened to the nightly sounds of the city. He sincerely hoped to catch something other than the barely audible sounds of a club two streets behind him.

Kid Flash looked down and brushed a stray leaf off of his sleeve. "I'm sure Gotham would be having some decent action." He mumbled to himself. _If I was allowed to even set foot in it by the possessive boy wonder who acts like he owns it because of big Ol' daddy._

Kid Flash rubbed his face and groaned, wanting to rid his head of thoughts of the 'annoying little spawn' as Red Robin had appropriately referenced Damian Wayne a time or two before. Or twenty. Jai glanced at the time and straightened up. Apparently no action tonight so he was free to return home and find something more productive to do. Like beat that new racing game he wasn't allowed to touch until after finals were through.

Giving one last glance around him, Kid Flash prepared to take off when a soft alarm went off nearby. "Yes!" He whispered, almost too enthusiastically.

Kid Flash zipped off towards the quiet alarm, his dark spiked hair blowing in the wind. He stopped, narrowing his eyes in confusion at the place of interest. Normally it would have been something like a bank or a jewelry store. This looked like some kind of old pawn shop. The sound of a door thrusting open broke his train of thought. The dark haired speedster took off towards the back of the building where a door swayed back and forth, the alarm louder from the inside.

Kid Flash didn't bother checking inside as a figure darted around the corner in front of him, clutching tightly to a bag with one hand.

"I don't think so," The speedster said to himself, giving chase. Watching the thief round another corner, Kid Flash continued forward, confident to cut them off on the other side. He barely noticed the figure take another abrupt turn before reaching the end toward him, obviously aware of his presence. Kid Flash groaned for not seeing that hidden tight alleyway beforehand as he went directly after the thief. Zooming up directly behind them, Jai smirks slowing down a bit to call out, "Might as well stop and return whatever it is you just took,"

Kid Flash was mere inches away and reaching to grab the thief. His arm was outstretched and hand barely touching the ski mask when the figure quickly turned around for a split second before taking off in front of him. It was in that moment when Jai realized that he was no longer moving. Looking down, he was completely encased in ice up to his knee with one leg and had the ski mask in his hand. Short pale blonde hair was all he saw as she rounded the corner out of the alleyway and back on the empty street.

It took a minute for the speedster to break through the ice and start moving again. He ignored the slight feeling of numbness in his leg from the instant cold as pieces of ice continued to fall from his uniform, some of it almost instantly melting. He went back onto the street and wildly looked around. She was nowhere in sight.

Kid Flash continued to zoom around the city with no luck on finding the thief. One thought plagued him for the remainder of the night.

"Who was that?"

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><p><em>There you go. Intro chapter completed. The main team was introduced here, though a couple was mentions. I will try to have as many actual DC Universe characters in this fic as I can, but as you can tell, a handful of OC's will be brought in. There were four main ones in this chapter, one of which was suggested by <em>_**creatorX33**__ as my 100__th__ reviewer for the WFC, the West Family Chronicles. As mentioned before, this is a spin-off of that collection taking place about 12 years later to have the children form their own team. I will inform when I bring in more OC's in the future which will eventually happen. _

_Just for some clarification, the cave was eventually rebuilt through the years to use as a hidden back-up base with protected layers of tech and magic alike so not to have an incident as before of which Kaldur apologized profusely for and was a huge hand in its rebuilding. After some prompting from the juniors and the originals on the Young Justice Team, it was allowed that this would be where the new Team of heroes would be allowed to be. The Watchtower was opened to them as well, but they preferred to be here most of the time. Gives them a bit of a distinction from the Justice League._

_Any other comments, questions, or whatever, let me know. I will try to update as often as I can, though a pre-warning, this may take a while._

_REVIEW TIME! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the support last chapter. Enjoy! And thank you XRedVengance for your continued help in all my stories. _

_Disclaimer: I only own Diana in this chapter. Everyone else is a DC character._

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><p><strong>Keystone City <strong>

**June 2 15: 39 CDT**

In the outskirts of the city, a forest lay beyond, practically untouched except for the wildlife and the occasional explorer. Birds sang a sweet harmony bringing in the late afternoon. A blue jay flapped across to reach another tree when he was startled by a passing blur. Jai West let the breeze turn to wind through his dark hair as he glided through the forest floor. He kept his gaze to the front of him, his eyes protected by the goggles custom made for speedsters. Instead of his Kid Flash costume, Jai wore a dark green tee, dark shorts, and nearly speedster-proofed sneakers. Keeping a steady pace and breathing pattern, Jai skitted around, scarcely missing a large oak tree in his path. Without looking back, he leapt over a root and sprinted forward.

Jai continued through the forest, moving around natural obstacles with the occasional markers spotted on trees placed there himself to use as a common course. This was his personal training ground. The ending nearly straight and in sight, Jai pushed himself to go his top speed. Once passing the two trees tied with thin neon green ropes, the speedster finally decelerated to a stop. Jai calmly panted for a moment before turning to a blonde seventeen year old sitting on a log.

"How-*pant—How was that, Cody?"

Cody looked down at the timer in his hand. "2 minutes and 49 seconds. A few seconds slower than fifteen minutes ago."

Jai shook his head as he let out a deep breath and stood up straight, combing a hand once through his wind-swept hair. He looked back to give a quick glance around the nearly quiet forest. "Still not fast enough,"

Cody sat the timer in his lap as he mused aloud to his friend, "Maybe you need to take an actual break now and learn to lighten up, Jai. You are really fast. I wish I could have even an ounce of your super-speed." The teenager with blonde hair down to the top of his ears and bluish-green eyes stretched his arms above his head in boredom. With a pointed look, Cody added knowingly, "I'm sure whoever was the chick that iced you, will show up again sometime. People don't just disappear in thin air, right?"

Jai outright ignored that comment, regretting having told him about the mysterious thief that got away the week before. Yet, Cody Driscoll, his best friend for the past six years, managed to catch the speedster in a perplexed state and spill what happened. Jai always enjoyed having a friend outside of the Team and hero community that he could hang out with and fully be himself with no secrets attached. Cody learned four years ago of his speed and of his family when Jai first started the hardcore hero gig.

"Whatever," Jai stared ahead at a large plank of wood stationed a short distance away as he prepared himself to sprint again. Without giving much as a glance at his friend, Jai told him, "Time how fast I can get through the wall."

Cody frowned at the request. "Jai, I know you speedsters can do that vibrate your molecules through solid objects thing, but don't you remember one time you tried that, you ended up with a large bruise burn on your forehead when it didn't work."

"Yeah," Jai grumbled back, "I remember that. Luckily it quickly healed mostly before anyone could ask about it. Now let's go!" Silence answered the dark-haired speedster. Jai slumped his shoulders and sighed before turning to face Cody.

"Look, sorry for snapping at you."

The blonde brushed it off as nothing. "No problem, man." Cody reset the timer. "Now you ready?"

Jai eventually gave a nod as he turned his focus back to the wooden board ahead. He steadied his breathing and clenched his fists as he prepared his stance once again. Once the word go was announced, Jai took off. This time instead of running faster, he focused on moving his entire body faster. He bit his lip as the board was suddenly at his face. Narrowing his eyes, he continued to move at a rapid pace, hardly noticing the numbness of his body as he vibrated through the large piece of wood. In no time, Jai cleanly found himself on the other side. After whipping his head around to the wood now a short distance behind him, Jai couldn't resist the urge to pump his fists in the air to victory.

"Yes!"

Cody shared a similar cheer. "Not bad!" Jai continued to grin at the accomplished feat until Cody cleared his throat. "Um, Jai…" The blonde motioned to wipe the bottom of his nose.

Jai did the same. He frowned when his hand had little blood gently trickling down from his nose. "Seriously?!" Jai swore under his breath at the minor situation.

Cody lightly laughed in attempts to stay positive. "Hey, at least it wasn't as bad of a bloody nose as last time. I think you're improving."

_Irey never had issues with a bloody nose since she was eight_, Jai bitterly thought to himself while cleaning the remaining droplets of blood as it quickly cleared up.

Cody stood up to stretch as he looked at his watch for the time. "Not that this wasn't an eventful afternoon, but it's probably best to start heading home." With a nudge, he added, "Mr. Speedy should do the same for his little family get together."

"Don't remind me," Jai mumbled.

Cody shrugged, "You're the one who brought it up earlier." Cody moved around the log to retrieve his bike. As he prepared to get on his bike, he gave a sly grin. "Oh, and tell Rey I said hi and that she should swing by sometime."

Jai rolled his eyes and chuckled some as he sarcastically replied, "I'm sure Irey would be _thrilled_ to hear that."

Cody's grin brightened as he stood taller. "What can I say, the babes can't resist me."

Jai put a hand to his forehead, shaking in disbelief. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just reference my sister like that."

He laughs in response, getting on his bike to head off. "Catch ya later man,"

"As if," Jai grinned at the reference before taking off in the opposite direction.

The speedster is careful about returning home, slowing down to a walk once he reached a more populated area. Passing by a small strip of stores, he heard a tisking sound nearby.

"Speeding in broad daylight?" Jai hardly glanced at the familiar stranger from the corner of his eye. The young woman with thick dark auburn hair right past her shoulders wore a dark maroon top with a black jacket covering, complete with black jeans and combat boots. She leaned against her parked red and black '14 Harley Davidson, giving him a pointed look through her sunglasses.

She feigned a shocked gasp and sarcastically added, "Oh my. What happened to the no breaking the "no powers while in civvies" rule?" She folded her arms as he continued on, deliberately ignoring her. "What, no hello to your favorite cousin either?"

Jai stopped, refraining from rolling his eyes as he turned around to face her. "Lian, you're technically my only cousin."

Lian Harper stepped away from her motorcycle with a smirk. "You mean you don't include Ollie's darling daughter in the family? How is the squirt anyway?"

"Olivia's fine, though I thought you were coming over with the rest of them anyway."

She shrugged. "How was I supposed to get out of Dinah's request to come to the little shindig for Aunt Artemis." It was more of a statement. "I merely stopped by to pick up something when I noticed a familiar face lurking about when I could have sworn he would be home by now for his mother's birthday."

Jai deliberately ignored her last comment. From the rare moments Jade came around for quick visits, he could definitely tell that Lian gained the cunning personality from his aunt. "Diana would be glad to see you." He submissively added, changing the topic.

"That too," Lian gave a small smile at the mention of her youngest cousin. "It's about time to check on my little apprentice."

"Don't let mom hear you say that," Jai replied as he started walking off. He considered taking off once he was out of view from both his cousin and other possible passerbyers.

"Hey," She called, gaining back his attention, "Wouldn't you rather have a ride?" Lian asked, motioning over to her cycle. With a knowing smirk, she slyly added, "Unless you would rather me mention something about you speeding out in public _out_ of costume and doing who knows whatever else?" Jai groaned in frustration before he reluctantly gave in to her offer.

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><p><strong>Kansas City<strong>

**17:34 CDT**

A rumble shook the street as an explosion blasted open the doors of a jewelry store. A man in an armored bright red suit stepped out with bags in hand, alarms blaring in his wake. With a click in his armor, the suited man sent back a missile, directly silencing the alarm. The man grinned at his destruction and walked confidently on, his heavy metallic footsteps easily heard on the pavement.

"Two in a row," He gleamed to himself. "Now that was easy. Adonis, you are one brilliant man."

A gust of wind in the form of a red streak zoomed directly past the armored man. "I beg to differ," A voice replied. Adonis narrowed his eyes as the streak fully materialized into a man in a red spandex suit, grinning as he held a bag in his hand and leaned casually against a nearby wall. That was when Adonis looked down to realize one of his bags of loot was missing.

"Adonis," The scarlet speedster mock bowed at the villain. "It's been a while,"

"Flash," Adonis glared, keeping the other bag close to his side, "This isn't your territory."

Flash shrugged. "But when someone gives a special call for fun, I come running."

Before Adonis could respond a comeback, another gust of wind distracted him once again, leaving him completely empty-handed. Impulse appeared next to her father, giving a matching grin as she held up the bag to show.

"And who am I to miss out." She paused, raising an eyebrow and taunting, "You really shouldn't let things slip out of your hands so easily."

Adonis growled at his nuisances, his fists clenched. Police sirens were soon closing in. Adonis hardly took notice to the black and white cars hastily coming closer. He grinned as he extended his arms out. "We'll see about that,"

Adonis pulled out a light pole and swung it towards the police cars. In an instant, Impulse dropped the bag and ran towards the cops standing with their guns extended towards the foe. She grabbed hold of the backs of their collars and pulled back, barely moving them out of the way of the oncoming projectile. With a crash, the pole directly made contact with the windshield.

Impulse gave a light chuckle to the bewildered policeman staring at the damage of their squad car. "Watch out for flying lights," She jokingly advised. Once she was certain that the cops were out of harm's way, Impulse zoomed back to meet up with her father who was currently catching the armored man's attention.

Flash moved out of the way as a stop sign plummeted towards him. "What is it baddies intent on destroying public property?" Impulse asked after sidestepping another sign.

Flash purged his lips in concentration as he pulled them out of the way of another projectile. "I don't think we'll ever know… I'll be right back," Flash zoomed over to pick up the bags of stolen goods to drop off in the hands of the police. After a mere salute, the elder speedster went back to his daughter's side.

"He's getting a little rusty," Flash commented smoothly to his partner as Adonis clumsily threw two parking meters as spears, easily missing them as they didn't even move.

"And desperate," Impulse added. She adjusted the lens on her goggles to focused on the foe ahead of them as she searched for some kind of possible weakness in the armor. "And not directly touchable as he appears to not be physically there."

"A hologram or technological being controlling the suit? Great."

The two split for a moment to avoid a blast from his armor headed in their direction before attempting to go at the villain from both sides. Impulse distracted and dodged as Flash made a lunge in the back, vibrating his molecules through to create a hole and hopefully find some kind of wire or switch to shut down. Instead, he gets shocked and thrown back a few feet. Impulse zoomed over to help her dad get back up as they noticed sparks from inside a seemingly empty suit as the head of the man inside the suit fizzled out briefly and reappeared

"That confirms the holographic _and_ tech theory," Impulse pointed out as she and Flash get up again and move a short distance away to plan. "Figures he wouldn't be physically present."

Flash is quick to analyze the situation. "Although he would most likely be somewhere nearby."

"So look for traces of a major power source." Impulse concluded, catching on. "Got it," She adjusted her goggles and took off on her search.

Flash watched the blur of his daughter go out of sight from the corner of his eye before he fully faced the foe. "Now to keep you busy," He mumbled to himself as he took off.

Flash was doing fairly well, running around the robot to create a mini tornado containment. Noticing the red armored foe struggling to stand and tiny pieces of his armors starting to come off in the man-made storm funnel, he decreased his speed. Flash was too soon to stop and believe all was clear when he was suddenly hit by an energy beam from the side. This caused the speedster to fall over in a roll, clutching his side from the stinging pain.

"What now?" Flash groaned. He took a moment to regain his quickly returning energy. Once he stood up, he cursed incoherently when he noticed a second robotic Adonis join the first tattered one. "And now they multiply," He mumbled to himself, hoping that Adonis hadn't contacted help from other known major inventor foes.

In a secluded dark room, the real Adonis cackled as he stared through the various monitors in front of him, using his armor turned bots as visuals from different angles, both directed at Flash. His voice carried through his creations in an echoing manner. The scarlet speedster glanced at both, watching for the next move.

"You will never be able to stop me and have no idea how many of me are out there!"

Flash submissively turned his head away while keeping an eye on the machines. He pressed the communicator over his ear inside his cowl. "Irey," He whispered in ushering, "Hurry up,"

His daughter responded back in a hushed tone, "I know—found it!"

Flash grinned as he faced both armors. He called out, "It's an obvious bluff, Adonis! You and I both know that you're not smart enough to have multiple machines running around. You're lucky enough to be controlling two." Flash's grin widened considerably as the pathetic villain growled in response. "Maybe it's time to put away the life sized dolls!"

This angered Adonis again as he used both to simultaneously fire limited energy blasts, easily missing the hero. After another failed strike the foe asked, "Where did your little sidekick run off to anyway?"

Flash gave a huge grin as he extended his hands from his sides in gesture. "Like what you have here, I am only the decoy."

Behind the computer, the real slightly aging Adonis widened his eyes in realization as he felt a gust of wind directly behind him. He turned around to face a grinning red- haired pigtailed speedster.

"Hi," She gave a small wave before tightening her hand into a swift fist.

* * *

><p><strong>Keystone <strong>

**18:13 CDT**

"Not bad," Lian commented, "Not bad at all,"

The twenty year old looked brightly at Diana who smiled at the praise. After arriving at the West residence, Lian had found her thirteen year old cousin relaxing out in the backyard, stuck in her own thoughts. Tactically sneaking near in attempts to scare her, Diana suddenly turned around and caught her older cousin's arm in a twist as she turned around. Once Diana realized who she grabbed, she immediately let go and apologized profusely. Lian wouldn't have it, nor could she hold back her sly smile.

"With a reaction time like that, you should be able to take down just about anyone who crosses your path." Lian wrapped her arm around the younger in a playful tug that Diana knew was secretly a hug. Soon, Lian let go and stepped back.

Jai sat down and watched the experienced archer trade off some tactics and secrets to use during training to his baby sister. He was genuinely happy how quickly Diana had picked up on the similar skills of his mother's side of the family, especially with Lian more than happy to give her the training. Jai glanced over as he spotted his mother in the doorway, watching. Artemis had an unreadable expression as she watched as the two conversed.

Artemis remembered the times when her children were younger and just having fun, enjoying their young lives. Now they were growing up and saving the world. It was inevitable to avoid, she knew. That didn't stop her from worrying though. Especially about her baby girl. Diana was the age when Jai and Irey first started as Kid Flash and Impulse as Wally's cousins, Dawn and Don Allen, had no big desire to join the hero force. The Allen twins were currently out in some European country, studying abroad. Artemis would never want to hold any of her kids back from their potentials, she just secretly hoped that Diana could at least steer clear for a while longer. Maybe after she was entirely trained and not to be in any sort of danger.

"Once you get all that down and with some more practice, you should soon be allowed to become a hero and take your own name in no time." Diana gave a small smile at that compliment. By this point, Artemis cleared her throat to purposely interrupt.

"Oliver, Dinah, and Olivia just got here. Barry and Iris are supposedly on their way."

Lian nudged Diana forward. "Probably should say hi before we get our space invaded by an overly excited twelve year old."

Diana grinned and added, "Don't you mean trapped by a retiree intent on going over the grand old days?"

Lian ruffled her long dark hair. "You are most certainly right, người"*(Cousin)

Diana walked ahead to greet the others. Oliver's booming voice could be heard across the house as he must have embraced her. Before Lian entered, she stopped next to her aunt. Without looking at Artemis, Lian mentioned in a low voice that instantly reminded the mother of Jade.

"You can't hold her talents back forever. She's good and you know it." Lian moved on without waiting for a response. Artemis carefully watched after her niece until she noticed her son still sitting outside.

"You coming in, Jai?" She asked. He continued to sit there, avoiding her gaze while tapping his foot in boredom.

He eventually answered brusquely, "Maybe as soon as Irey and dad get back from their little pair-up."

Artemis lingered a moment longer, watching after her only son with some concern. She would have to be blind not to see that he was beginning to seem distant lately. There had to be some way to cheer him up. Sensing that now would not be the best time to disturb him, Artemis turned to head back inside. As she reached for the door, she paused, feeling a strange prickle on the back of her neck as if someone was watching. After straining her dark gray eyes of looking warily around outside, the blonde found nothing. She slowly headed back inside. A street over, a dark figure watched the house for a moment before receding back into the shadows between the buildings.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry about the delay. Had to deal with being sick a few days then mostly babysitting for others along with a tiny writer's block. No team for this chapter. Since this story will be mainly surrounding the West kids, I of course had to focus on them for a bit. <em>

_As I mentioned before, Diana is the only character that is mine. Everyone else in this chapter has a place in the DC world, even if they are not known much. Questions, comments, suggestions… feel free to message me. I like to respond. _

_So… REVIEW! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Woo hoo! Next chapter! Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: All DC related characters belong to their respective owners. A few are mine though._

* * *

><p><strong>The Cave <strong>

**June 6 09:57 EST **

"…And if your spin lands on the right number, you could win—"

Arch aimlessly flipped through the television channels, his head leaning against his hand in boredom. Next to the tall nineteen year old with electric red hair on the large beige leather sofa sat Milagaro and Irey, all in their civvies. Chris Kent leisurely leaned forward, his elbow propped on the arm of the sofa. While channels changed periodically, the young heroes were caught up in their own conversations.

Irey retold the tale of her recent team-up with her dad against the aging Adonis a few days prior.

Chris looked towards the red-head, still chuckling over the story. "So he pulled the typical robbery, but tried to do it with pathetic little androids? That may seem smart at first, but he should know by now that kind of power requires a nearby connection that can be easily tracked."

Milagaro shook her head. "Some of these '_big time villains'_," The Hispanic girl added, quoting with her fingers in mock, "They are really losing their touch. About a month ago, Dr. Light threatened to take over a power plant. It was _fácil_, easy, to take him out in three small moves. Guy Garner never had to lift a finger to help."

Chris shook his head. "Villains are stupid,"

"_Desperate_ is more like it." Irey added in a correcting tone.

Arch gave an entertained look towards them before he continued to scan through the television.

"How can you be such an moron to ever believe that I would—Can you help us find the right shape to—And the polls are beginning to rise for candidate Lex Luthor as he—That's right folks! Call now and you can get for free a—"

"Hold it! Don't change the channel!" Chris practically exclaimed as he completely whipped around to face the television.

"What? Looking to get a mini pancake turner?" Milagaro asked with an amused look.

"No, not that," The son of the original Man of Steel furiously shook his head before turning to Arch. "Can you switch it back to the news reports?"

Arch raised an eyebrow. "That stuff's boring," Seeing the intent look on the Super's face, he slouched back on the sofa and hesitantly answered the request, handing the control over. "Whatever,"

"…Is most known as a grand entrepreneur, from a small business to a thriving corporation in different sections across the country and in some parts of the world. LexCorp has become a name that rivals other major companies such as Wayne Enterprises. Luthor has since become a public face to the world in his generous endeavors of serving as a peacekeeper between two nations on the brink of war, aiding in generous donations and protection to countries affected by devastating storms, and his contribution to rebuilding our own nation, all in hopes to play his part in making the world a better place."

Irey groaned really loud at that part, letting her head hit the back of the sofa. "Oh, please. Haven't we heard enough?"

"Agreed," Arch added, tempted to take the remote out of the Kryptonian's hands himself.

Milagaro glanced over at Chris before turning to Irey. "It must be in his blood to be obsessed with anything about Luthor considering who his _padre_ is." She paused for a moment, adding in an after-thought in a directed question to the speedster. "Or would it be both his parents who have chased after him?"

Irey sat up to respond, looking directly at her current annoyance. She spoke loudly, "You're right. Maybe he should focus on getting a degree in journalism."

Chris was quick to shush her, fully focused on the television. She rolled her eyes and stayed in her position while staring back at the ceiling, seriously considering getting up and leaving the room. Milagaro and Arch shared a look of agreement to the red-head's desires, but remained in their spots.

"In his run for President, Luthor leaves his company in the hands of his twenty-five year old son, Alex Luthor, who emerged nearly six years ago. This once unknown individual has proven to be the real son of Luthor as he begins to show grand authority and brilliance, following in the footsteps of his father—"

The screen went blank. The four young heroes nearly jump as they never noticed the presence of their team leader until now. Robin, with his ever so present dark shades covering his eyes, boldly stood in his dark red slim fitting shirt and dark slacks next to Chris, remote somehow in hand without the Super's previous notice.

"Haven't you had enough of that crap by now?"

Chris stood, slightly towering over the current boy wonder as he glared at him. "Learning about either of the Luthor's possible actions is not worthless."

Damian raised an eyebrow, ignoring the glare of the Kryptonian. "I never said it was," The leader smoothly replied. Chris faltered a bit as he gave a minor look of confusing. Robin sized up to the stronger teen. "You're not going to get anything worth listening to from those kinds of sources, Kent. I thought for sure _you_ would have known that by now."

The girls held back snickers while Arch felt like he was missing something. Chris shook his head as he internally groaned. "So much for the secret identity thing around you, D." He mumbled.

Robin paid him no mind as he wrapped bands carefully around his hands. "Once you've finished, _Steel_," He replied in a hint of mockery, not bothering to look up from his current task, "You're up first for a sparring session."

"Of course," Chris replied, rolling his eyes as he began to walk over. He briefly turned toward the other three in a sarcastic explanation, "And this has nothing to do with the possible feud between our dads of who was better on this trending verses thing that's been going around lately. And junior here would have no reason to try and prove it—gah."

Chris was cut off due to the swipe he barely dodged. Robin gave a hardly noticeable smirk at the glare he received. "Are you ready _now_?" He grumbled in response, but moved into a defensive position.

While watching the glares sent to each other as they began their practice, Arch asked cautiously to his female teammates, "Is there some kind of unspoken harsh past between them?"

Milagaro shook her head. With a glance to the boy wonder, she replied quietly, "The two of them never quite got along, but then Robin doesn't seem to get along with others well."

"That's not true," Irey added in quick defense. She cleared her throat as she looked down for a second upon seeing the Green Lantern raise her eyebrow in inquiry. "I know D—Robin doesn't get along with everyone, but I mean who does?"

Milagaro gave a suggestive grin. "I don't know what you honestly see in that brat anyway."

Irey waved it off. "He's not _that_ bad. I think he puts up a tough front to never show any weakness."

"Sure," The dark haired heroine replied, unconvinced of the theory. "That's the _only_ reason you are quick to defend him… or why your favorite color seems to be red now as you've been staring at his shirt since he came in." Irey fought back a blush. Milagaro's smile widened. "I will admit, he does pack some nice muscles."

"Girls," Arch grumbled as he shook his head in disbelief. He moved a short distance away from them to ignore the conversation and fully study the defensive moves in the sparring.

Irey turned toward her friend with a sly smile. "Oh, you have a crush on our dear leader? I thought you had your sights on a different _super_ hero with dazzling blue eyes and a charming smile."

"You're loco _Chica_," The junior Lantern bit the bottom of her lip as she forced herself to look ahead at the fight. The speedster grinned in triumph.

Robin caught Chris off-guard, giving a series of tactical hits to knock him over. The super quickly found steady footing to block off in firm arm stances.

For a normal being, they probably wouldn't have caught Chris's quick turn toward the others watching in very slight bulging eyes. For a speedster, Irey grinned as she instantly caught on to his very brief distraction. Irey had a huge smile like she got the one thing she dreamed of for Christmas. Giving a glance at her two friends, she decided to keep her observation quiet. At least for the time being.

After another moment of watching the spar continue, Robin hit in an uppercut to the jaw before he slipped behind Steel and threw a few more quick punches that would have made a speedster proud. Using his momentary bewilderment, Robin tossed the super over and on the ground with a thud. The computerized voice announced the winner.

Chris groaned as he got up. He looked towards the young women of the team in slight annoyance, purposely avoiding them directly. "I probably would have done better if you two weren't talking."

Damian began taking off his bands around his hands. "You need to be used to blocking out distractions in a real situation, Kent." He pointed out. Chris ignored him as he folded his arms and leaned against the nearest wall.

Milagaro cleared her throat of the silence left from the argument. She stepped forward in question, "Robin, would you like me to go a round with Arch?"

The young man perked up at his name. Robin turned to study between the Green Lantern and the Meta until he caught glance of another moving along the edge of the training room. Jai bluntly ignored the gazes of the others as he made his way towards the kitchen. Robin continued to watch the speedster walk past.

"Actually, I'd rather have West." He loudly replied, looking directly at the back of Jai's head.

Irey looked back and forth between Damian to her brother. "Jai," She called out.

The dark haired speedster took his time to turn around in question. She gestured toward Robin. He glared at the leader. "Yes?" He asked in a gruff.

"Take a round against Arch."

Jai doesn't look away from him. "Why?" He scoffed.

Robin raised his eyebrow and his mouth goes grim. "Would you rather spar against me?"

Jai mumbled incoherently before he hesitantly headed over towards Arch. With a final glare towards the son of Batman, Jai turned back to the waiting young man. "Ready?"

Arch nodded. When he barely had time to raise his arms for defense, Jai sent a series of speedy jabs around his shoulders followed by a swipe kick to his unguarded side. This caused the Meta to stagger back a few feet in minor surprise to regain his balance.

Jai gave a smirk, taunting his sparring partner to come forward towards him with a hand gesture. "Have to do better than that, _Archie_."

For a speedster, Jai was too slow to avoid the heavy punch sent directly towards his face. Turned away, Jai rubbed his now sore jaw in shock. Jai jerked back to a over-towering Arch, tightened fists at his stiffened sides as he waited for his opponents next move. Arch made no move to speak any sort of apologies for his hard punch as he stared hard-faced against the speedster.

Jai glared back and rubbed his jaw one last time before lunging back into the fight. This time, Meteor was prepared for Kid Flash, blocking most of his attacks and sending a few back. Jai slipped behind him to stagger him when Arch expected and acted upon the attack, turning to block with a hard arm and a thrust back. Jai stepped back, both anticipating the other's next moves.

The others watching made no point to speak, enthralled by the spar. Irey watched her brother with a slight frown, not liking how harsh it seemed like he was making this practice be. In a speed slightly inhuman, Jai made a bunch of moves on both sides against his opponent before knocking him off his feet. Arch landed down on his back side with a thud.

Jai let out a few deep breaths before rubbing his jaw to notice the soreness went down majorly due to his rapid healing. Arch stood up straight as he subconsciously rubbed his arm for a moment.

Jai commented with seriousness, "Next time, don't take it so hard."

Arch narrowed his eyes. "Then don't call me Archie," He added in warning.

Jai glared before raising an eyebrow. "Fine," He turned towards the others before pointily stopping at Robin. "He did well. Now if this is satisfactory enough, I'll be on my way." Jai headed off towards the Zeta Beams before giving a chance for anyone to speak.

**Recognized: Kid Flash C08**

"That was…interesting." Milagaro said aloud, breaking the silence.

"Not bad," Chris replied, giving Arch an encouraging pat on the back. The latter returned a small smile of appreciation. "If KF wasn't so much a stuck up and sore loser, you probably could have beaten him."

"You are talking about my brother," Irey mentioned.

"He does have a point," Milagaro added with sympathy towards her red-headed friend.

Irey shrugged in defeat. "I suppose you're kind of right."

Robin continued to watch towards the Zeta Beams, contemplating over the previous sparring and the dark haired speedster. It seemed to be the time to have a little chat with him soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Keystone City <strong>

**10:53**

Diana stood in front of an old abandoned little thrift shop on the edge of town. Boards covered up broken windows and most of the door. The thirteen year old leaned against the wall, giving a glance around her surroundings before checking her phone once more for the time. Diana sighed in slight boredom. She had been waiting for nearly a half an hour. When she had just begun pulling her thick black hair in a hairtie, a flash of light appeared from inside the old building. A muffled computerized voice announced,

**Recognized: Syren C11**

After a moment, the boards at the entrance were pulled aside carefully. Ryla emerged and swatted briefly at invisible barriers hanging in her face.

"You know, if the place was cleaned more often, there wouldn't be so many cobwebs everywhere." The blonde Atlantian mentioned, finished with her arm waving dance. She blew the loose strand of blonde hair out of her face, adjusting her small braid to the right in her midst of thick hair. Ryla's hairstyle was based off of Kida's from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, one of the Atlantian's favorite movies when she was a kid, especially when understanding the fact that she was part Atlantian, though somewhat different in comparison to the movie.

Diana leaned off the wall, an eyebrow raised as a corner of her mouth curved up. "It's supposed to have an unused look to avoid unwanted snoopers." She pointed out.

Ryla shrugged and smiled. "Oh well. This still beats hanging out at the cave when it is such a beautiful day out." The blonde latched her arm around the younger, gesturing ahead. "I am ready for the tour of your mighty city."

The two friends went on their way, the West girl giving a brief history of different things they passed while Ryla added in various comments. It was an enjoyable day for both. Once reaching Keystone's main park, Ryla peered up at the statue of the famed scarlet speedster in polished bronze, stationed in the center of a large fountain near the entrance. An amused look passed across her face.

"That is a pretty—interesting addition to this lovely little park." Ryla leaned in close to Diana's ear, adding quietly, "I understand that Keystone is one of Flash's cities to protect, but does it scream awkward to you to have a statue of your dad our here like this?"

Diana gave a wide smile as she shook her head. "This isn't nearly as bad as the one in Central. Much bigger there and a couple stationed right in front of the fully dedicated for Flash museum."

Ryla raised an eyebrow and suppressed a laugh, failing miserably. "Wow," She responded, still calming from her minor laughing fit. "I don't think there is any other _designated_ city with a statue of their hero," The blonde paused, tilting her head in thought. "No, Atlantis has one of Aquaman, though he is the king so I doubt that hardly counts." Ryla's amused smile returned as she gave a short laugh. "How odd will it be if, for example, the mighty _Batman_ had his own museum?"

Diana joined in the fun of her best friend's musings. "I wouldn't be surprised," The younger kept to herself how the Batcave kind of served as a personal museum with a giant penny, a Tyrannosaurus Rex figure, and who knows what else the Bats collected throughout the years. At least, that is from what she heard in Irey's visit a time or two to the famed secret cave.

Ryla sat down on the edge of the fountain, her hand dipping in the water to slowly twirl around, letting the water run through her fingers. "Your city is nice and all, though it would have been nicer to be located near the coast with a fresh ocean breeze. No offence, but you live too far inland."

Diana rolled her eyes in a gentle manner before pointing out as she sat next to her, "Ryla, you enjoy being near the ocean too much."

The blonde was quick to respond. "Why wouldn't I considering who my father is? It runs in the genetics."

Diana nodded in understanding. Her friend, after all, _is_ the daughter of Kaldur'ahm, one of the original heroes that started the junior team all those years ago. It was no surprise that, like many other children of the heroes, Ryalani followed in the path of her father's heroic acts. When she was thirteen and strong enough to endure the pressures of deep sea, Ryla trained for a time with the Queen of Atlantis herself at the Conservatory of Sorcery to later learn special forms of hydrokenisis. Just like Kaldur and others before and after him. Being only part Atlantian with a mix of meta-human from her mother, Ryla could only remain an extended amount of time under the water without any aids until Aquaman and Queen Mera granted her allowance in a more permanent way for her to stay under the water. Soon enough, Ryla was ready to take on the young hero status. Instead of taking on the expected namesake mantels of previous Aquagirls, and seeing how it slightly pained her father with the name, Ryla took a different approach to her own unique name. Syren. It also contributed to her additional abilities inherited from her mother's side.

Diana remembered the first time she first became friends with the bubbly Atlantian hybrid nearly a year ago. The archer-in-training came to visit the cave for the first time with Irey and Jai when she was introduced to a large portion of the Team that was there. Ryla was the first to question (with much excitement) about a possible new hero initiation. The siblings instantly denied the question with explanations of her young age. Ryla didn't care, welcoming the younger in with a smile. That's how she was. Friendly to just about everyone she came across as long as they treated her with kindness in return. It didn't take long for the two to become really good friends, the older looking out for the younger in making sure she was included and happy. Diana truly enjoyed hanging around Ryla as she always seemed to bring up her spirits without even trying.

Ryla nudging her pulled Diana out of her thoughts. "So when will you become a full fledged member of the team? I'm serious about taking on the name Huntress. It perfectly suits you that it is awesome."

Diana looked down at her hands clasped together in her lap. "Huntress was my grandmother's name." She softly spoke, "She was pretty cool to be around I guess. Or from what I heard from Jai and Irey since I didn't have much of a chance to know her as I was fairly young when she died…"

Ryla placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave an encouraging smile. Diana returned it. "You are right though. I like Huntress," Diana turned away, flicking a pebble into the fountain. "If I were to become a hero. Officially I mean."

Ryla tilted her head and gave a slight pout in response. "Why not?"

Diana shrugged, still partially turned away. "I don't see it happening anytime soon."

Ryla studied the dark haired girl before her. "I know it cannot be the no powers thing since you definitely have the skills of becoming kick butt like your mom. Can't let that stop you."

The blonde's gaze flickered away elsewhere at her own statement as she was reminded of her own mother. Diana was aware from her admittance a while ago that Ryla's mom, Adalyn, had music hypnosis abilities inherited by her father turned criminal mastermind and thus somewhat passed on to her. However it was not nearly as prominent as her mother and grandfather. Ryla stated then that she didn't blame her mom for choosing not to become a hero as she was not hero material. She was too soft-hearted.

Ryla turned back with honest determination in her eyes. "Diana, you will in time become a great hero." She gave a smile, her sea green eyes now brighter. "You may not know it yet, but you will."

As Diana was about to thank her friend for her confidence in her, an argument nearby averted their attention. A young man about college age ranted on to his girlfriend in harsh words as she turned away from him with her arms folded as she told him to leave her alone. The girls frowned at the scene.

Ryla gave a careful glance around while replying, "Watch this,"

Her eyes moving back and forth once more, the blonde then dipped her whole hand in the water, motioning her other hand above toward the argument. With a simple twirl and push forward, a ripple of water quickly developed into a skinny wave. It completely side-brushed the girl and soaked the guy. The girl suppressed a smile and a giggle with her hand while the guy whipped around, eyes narrowed for the cause. Ryla and Diana gave feigned looks of surprise to avoid detection.

The girlfriend finally found her voice. "Serves you right,"

In a huff, the guy leaves, but slightly embarrassed at the people around chuckling at his dripping appearance. Enraged, he stormed off, swearing under his breath of his distaste in water.

The two grinned as they watched the girl give a relieved sigh as she watched him storm off before moving away before he had a chance to change his mind and come back.

The blonde gave the biggest grin like she just earned a hundred dollar bill. "Another disaster diverted,"

"At least for the time being," Diana added with a smirk. Ryla rolled her eyes and laughed.

With a feeling of minor accomplishment, the two friends left the park in search of a simple place for lunch as they continued to talk about the recent event and the guy's expression as he stood drenched in water. This also brought up similar memories of being caught off-guard while training. Jai's hole in the bottom of his favorite shirt from being pinned to the wall as he snuck up on his little sister while practicing targets was enough for him to remain in the back until she finished.

"At least it was your brother," Ryla replied, softening her voice, "It's not as bad as completely knocking _the_ _King_ of Atlantis over and into a pillar by a ball of water while he supervised your training. At least he—"

_Screech! Zap_!

The Atlantian hybrid immediately stopped talking when a few cars pushed hard on their breaks nearby. At the same time, the glass from a bunch of street lights blew out in a row. A handful of people started running past from behind them, terror across their faces. The teens whipped their heads around to analyze the situation.

"What was that?"

Diana narrowed her eyes to where a strange faint shadow appeared a few yards from a hidden road ahead before seeming to disappear briefly in thin air. Sounds of more glass breaking echoed towards them as lights from building signs flickered.

A large bluish purple mass turned on the main street that Ryla and Diana were standing on. Diana could literally feel the hair on her arms raise at the sight of the monster thing. It seemed to be made up entirely of electricity with the shape of arms and legs. In the center near the top was some kind of black square thing that occasionally sparked. Lightning seemed to come from its body and strike a nearby car, causing the alarm to go off. The electric type being stopped and turned toward the blaring car before it raised its arm and shot bolts of electricity towards the offending noise, immediately cutting off the noise. Once satisfied, the electric monster turned back to slowly move along with no general point of direction other than destroying everything in sight.

Ryla pulled out her communicator, her sea green eyes still shocked at the unexplainable creature. "I—I think we need to alert the others…"

* * *

><p><em>To clear things up, Arch is the newest member of the team by a couple of months. He knows them by first names right now unless they told him specifically who they are. Most have known each other longer and know their full identities, excluding the current Robin. At this point from the team, only the WestHarper and Kent families know him as Damian Wayne or D for short. _

_Ryla's mother is an OC, but her grandfather is not. He's not part of YJ, yet is I believe more part of DCAU I think it's called. From a DC show… ;) Hopefully you'll be able to recognize the monster. Reference to another awesome DC show. _

_I am finished with my longest chapter ever that took forever to complete so please leave a review! That little box, there at the bottom. Ten seconds is all it takes! :) _


	4. Chapter 4

_Short note: I am so sorry for not updating this in… three months. Please don't hate me. Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I have no ownership to any DC Universe characters._

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><p><strong>Keystone City<strong>

**12:19**

People screamed as they ran away in terror. Loud bolts of electricity rang out in every direction. Diana and Ryalani took refuge behind an old newspaper stand, looking over cautiously at the creature wrecking havoc. When a stray bolt headed in their direction, the girls whipped around, Ryla instinctively hovering over the younger as she could somewhat withstand the electric currents if she were to take a minor hit.

The Atlantian hybrid stood up, looking briefly over her shoulder at Diana with concern. "Any suggestions while we wait for back up as we are weaponless?"

Just as the words left her mouth, they spotted an older man backing up towards them. The dark haired teenager jerked her head up at a popping sound similar to mock gunshots coming near them. Light poles blew out in a trail, coming closer. "One. Move!"

Ryla instantly caught on and grabbed a hold of the elderly man as Diana grabbed her arm and pulled them both back, out of the way. The light that was above them exploded, little pieces of glass raining down.

"Are you alright, sir?" Ryla asked, helping him stand back up.

"Yes, thank you girls," He gratefully responded, patting the blonde's hand that was still on his arm, slowly releasing. "But you girls better get out of here too. It's not safe."

Diana gave a small smile on the side as she gave her best friend a look. "We know," Ryla answered, "We are—" She stopped suddenly as all of their attention went to the loud shock. The electric monster took a few steps before whipping its arm toward a nearby electronic store and disappearing again.

"That can't be good," Diana mumbled, carefully looking around for when it would pop up again. They tensed as scraps of newspaper went flying behind them. They gave simultaneous sighs of relief when the girls recognized the figure in yellow and white that appeared, hands on her hips. Another appeared at her side in red and blue, a large S etched across his t-shirt.

"Where is it?" Impulse quickly asked, eyes darting around everywhere.

"It vanished over there," The man responded, pointing towards the store. "I don't think it's completely gone, but are you sure that—"

The man didn't have time to finish as the electric monster appeared a yard away from them, roaring in a static as he looked directly at them. Steel immediately picked up the man and gave a slight warning to hold on as he flew them a distance away. Impulse latched both arms onto the younger girls' and speedily jerked back. The speedster remained standing as the other two were on the ground, Ryla rubbing the back of her neck.

"Talk about a bit of whiplash,"

Impulse apologized quietly as she narrowed her eyes at the creature in front of them. It seemed to be focused on the hero in bright colors as it moved their direction. Before it could get any further, a giant green shield blocked its way, the female Green Lantern floating nearby with her hand extended out to keep the shield up. The monster let out a screeching roar as it proceeded to pound on the shield. As it was distracted, a laser blasted at its side. As he turned towards the attack, a small object was thrown on the other side. Once it hit, gas erupted from it and engulfed the electric monster, it bellowing in response. Robin and Meteor joined the three girls as they all examined the situation.

"Any ideas what this thing is?" Meteor asked. The tall, slender nineteen year old took a stance as his electric red eyes stared at the slowly dissipating smoke. He clenched his right hand tightly before reopening, the rock type material of his skin softly scraping against each other as he extended his left arm in front of him, palm facing out and the same rock hard skin traveling up from the back of his hand and up his arm. Meteor wore completely dark clothes with a large black overcoat, sleeves completely covering up his arms.

"Overload," Robin answered without hesitation. He moved his yellow cape to the side as he handed the Atlantian her personalized water bearers he brought in from the cave. They were similar to her father's but smaller and in a shade of light blue. She gave him thanks, gripping her weapons firmly in her hands as they began to vaguely light up.

"Of course _you_ know everything," Steel added while rolling his eyes, landing near the others.

The boy wonder ignored him as he glared at the monster. "Someone must have activated him again as he was put on ice years ago."

"_Excelente_," Green Lantern sarcastically replied as she landed near them and put down her shield to wait in a calculated stance. "Hopefully the League group is faring better in Midway with that goo monster."

"Plasmus," Steel corrected, quoting the name with his fingers as he gave a side glance to their leader. Robin wasn't even looking at him as he pulled up his holographic wristwatch. That is when Impulse really looked at the younger girls. The red-head approached her little sister with high concern.

"Diana, you shouldn't be here. I'm taking you home where you'll be safe." Robin shook his head, closing the hologram.

"Impulse, you're needed here. Changeling reported another monster sighting in Ivy Town and needs back up. Cinderblock."

"Another one?" Ryla, now Syren, groaned, putting her light blue mask on her face. "It is like someone is putting out a distraction or something."

"Yes it is," Robin said to himself, eyes narrowing in thought. He turned his head to the side. "Steel, Lantern," He called out, "Head to Ivy. We'll handle it here."

"If you're sure…" The two named heroes glanced at each other before taking off towards the nearest Zeta.

"Rob! What about Diana!" Impulse pointed out, gesturing to the thirteen year old behind her. "She can't stay here _and you know_ it."

The Dark Knight's son pulled out a few small weapons from his utility belt and held them in his hands as he stared straight ahead. The smoke completely cleared, leaving a highly ticked electric monster staring them down. Robin's expression was serious as he went in complete battle mode.

"She's smart enough to stay safe." He ordered, "Meteor, take the left side, Syren, right, and Impulse, help distract."

The female speedster gave a concerned glance to her little sister. "Head straight home and see if you can get a hold of Jai to help. He's not answering."

Diana nodded and Impulse ran straight ahead to the approaching monster. She slid across to avoid Overload's extended attack before getting back up to move behind him. Meteor took a hard stance before releasing a large energy attack, only teetering the electric creature over slightly.

"If you had your archery stuff, you could fight." Ryla told Diana, trying to be helpful as she tightened her grip on her weapons and searched for an opening.

The dark haired girl shook her head. "Not for this one," The archer in training saw how her friend looked at her.

"Ryla, it's okay. Irey is right. I'm not ready." Diana began to back up away from the battle as she pulled out her phone. Not even looking at the blonde, she added as she typed in a few keys, "You better go. I'll be fine." Syren gave a anxious look until she hesitantly turned around to rejoin the others.

….

* * *

><p>Meanwhile on the other side of town, an older teenager with short spiky dark hair walked along the street with his hands in his pockets. After that little sparring match back in the cave, Jai was in a bit of a foul mood. Arch had some skills, that was certain. The newbie just didn't have to take something simple so hard. Jai subconsciously rubbed his slightly sore jaw at the memory. That guy did pack a strong punch. Jai would know better now than to taunt him again.<p>

Not really interested in returning home yet, the dark haired speedster took his time waltzing around the streets of his hometown. The frowned at the thought of home. That was the place he began to dread being at lately. Jai would find any excuse to stay out with his own plans. Even if that consisted of wandering around alone in his thoughts. Home was where he was reminded that his all-star twin sister shined with her faster speed and favored by dad. No matter how much they denied any favoritism, he could see right through.

Speaking of Irey, he huffed and narrowed his eyes on annoyance as he put the phone back in his pocket, letting it continue to buzz with no intention to answer. Most likely to bother him about that sparring match. He was not in the mood to talk to his twin. Hardly ever was. She would get the attention she sought for, taking all of the Team with her on her side.

"Who needs any of them anyway?" Jai mumbled to himself.

The thoughts to go solo like his cousin Lian after she gave her leadership position to Robin sounded more and more appealing. Speedy seemed to be doing quite well on her own, following her own rules. Perhaps she could give him some tips. At least Lian was one of the few who weren't infatuated with Irey and her 'superb' abilities.

And Diana. His little sister never seemed to favor anyone or astounded with anyone who had abilities as she had none of her own. At least she had an understanding of what it took to be great. Diana probably had Lian to thank for that. Too bad their own mother led the hero community against his little sister joining the team soon. The archer in training was not helpless. Diana was perhaps the only reason he really came home anymore. Someone needed to watch out for her and make sure she could get what she deserved.

Jai kicked up some stray pebbles in his walk, beginning to get bored. Perhaps he could call up Cody to see if his buddy was up to doing something fun. Especially with graduation the next day. As he pulled out his phone to call him up, Jai paused when he heard the sound of glass breaking. On high alert, he put his phone away and instead took out his Flash ring. When he further heard glass as if someone was moving it out of the way, he opened up the ring. In an instant, he sported his personalized version of the red and white of Kid Flash.

Kid Flash put on his goggles and wasted no time to investigate the disturbance. Following the short trail of broken glass, the speedster came across the shattered window of a hardware store. Intrigued, he went inside, first noting that no alarms went off. _Maybe they forgot to pay their bill_. He mused to himself. Following the rummaging nearby, he gave a smug look and leaned against the wall with a foot propped up in a relaxed state, arms folded. The burglar paid no mind as they continued their search through various items.

"You know, you're an interesting thief. Not going for the usual break ins and all." The figure stopped moving, back turned to the hero. It wasn't until they stood up that the speedster recognized the short pale blonde hair that barely went past her shoulders. It was the same thief from about a week ago at the pawn shop. The one that somehow stopped him from pursuing.

Kid Flash immediately straightened up in a quick defense. He narrowed his eyes. "You again,"

"And I was about to say the same thing," She answered in a low voice. The thief turned her head to the side, revealing almost pale smooth skin and a bright blue eye staring him down.

"What are you after," The question was more of a statement. Instead of answering, she swiftly pushed random items off of a shelf towards him. He moved to dodge before shaking his head and going after her. Even Kid Flash would admit that she was pretty quick for not being a speedster. At least he doubted that conclusion. She tried to make a run for it once outside, but he was directly in her path.

"Not the best idea running from someone who can move a lot faster." She glared at him, both arms blocking herself. "Now, I will ask ag—ugh!"

Kid Flash was caught off-guard, again, as ice came out of nowhere, blocking directly in front of him. He dodged around as she extended her arms and shot more attacks at him. "Now hold on," He skitted around behind her and she swung around, waving her arm and leaving a trail of ice in her wake, trapping his left arm and his right hand to his chest.

The speedster struggled against his new confines. "Who are you?"

She glared at him. "No one of your concern, junior. Now leave me alone."

He speedily moved his arms, shattering the ice around him. He took a step towards her, her arms immediately extending again. "Sorry, but breaking into any place is my business…wait," He paused, confused for a moment at his own words. "I can't let you get away… again,"

The female thief raised an eyebrow at him. "Too bad," A loud explosion sounded in a distance followed by a screeching noise. The pale blonde glanced towards the noise. "Sounds like you have other issues to deal with." Without another word, she took off. His phone went off again. With a groan and a shaking his head, he answered when he saw it was Diana instead.

Giving a glance where the thief disappeared to, Jai sighed. "I'm on my way."

…..

* * *

><p>Back in midst of the battle, Impulse ran in circles around Overload to contain and short out its power, but as the electric monster seemed to have a mind of its own, she spent more time trying to avoid getting shocked. Robin threw a few small grenades. He flipped back in time only to have them blow before having direct contact on Overload. Syren stepped over in a fluid motion to move behind a large sign. Nearby, the remnants of the attack for her extended over to Meteor who cringed as the shocks hit him. Taking a deep breath, he pushed back the attack collected into his own energy against the monster. Overload screeched and stumbled back momentarily before disappearing in electric wires.<p>

"This section of city's main power was turned off so it shouldn't get too far." Robin informed as they regrouped in search for their missing adversary. The team of young heroes listened closely for any signs of an electric buzz. The whole air around them seemed to have a numbness of it.

"Any suggestions on how to take it down?" Meteor asked, still getting over the tingling sensations the electric current left on his body. He was able to withstand most energy attacks. It sometimes left brief side effects.

"I'm not able to get close enough to do anything." Syren admitted with a frown.

"Well how was he taken down before—" Impulse stopped to sprint forward to dodge the trail of shocks tailing after her. She didn't get far before the electric current caught up to her. She cringed in pain as Overload fully formed with a grip around her as it lifted the speedster up.

Wasting no time, Meteor shot a load of energy in its unprotected side as Syren used long water constructs to strike at the legs. In the double whammy, the monster bellowed and teetered as he released the speedster. Robin swooped in to grab her before she hit the ground.

Impulse shook as shocks still ran through her, but she forced herself to sit up. Robin gazed over her with concern as she stopped shaking, her eyes still tightly closed to fight it off. With her eyes halfway opened, she noticed the boy wonder lingering. The speedster put up her hand in assurance.

"I'm okay." She cringed out, "Just… need a moment." Robin studied her for a moment longer before hesitantly joining back into the action.

"She okay?" Syren asked with concern as she momentarily backed up when Meteor strikes full force. The leader gave another glance back at his fellow teammate who pushed herself up to stand. Arms firmly at her sides, she looked up and gave a slow nod of assurance.

Robin gave the ghost of a smile. "She'll be fine."

Without another word, he took the opportunity to strike where Meteor had just blasted. Syren concentrated to bring the water from a miniature fountain nearby in the middle of the square they were now positioned. With a vocal thrust, she used all her focus to extend her arms forward and attack with the large glob of water. Overload let out an extremely loud shriek as his side sparked. With immediate action, Robin pulled out ice pellets from his utility belt and threw them a distance that would make a baseball pitcher proud. Patches of ice formed on the electric monster as he struggled to move. Soon, Overload broke out of the ice confines, but remained weak.

"Too bad this place wasn't near the ocean or something." Syren asked, not taking her eyes off of the monster as she tried to form a tactical plan. "We'd need a lot of water to take it completely down."

"Got spare water in your utility belt too?" Impulse joked to Robin while rejoining the others. The boy wonder in response looked over her briefly, relieved to see her smiling and ready.

"I got an idea!" Meteor announced, taking off behind them. Robin notioned the Atlantian to follow.

The leader pulled out more pellets to distract. "Impulse, up to helping me?"

The speedster put her goggles back on. "On it!" She sprinted out of sight, only to return with a large water dispenser usually used in office workplaces in her arms. "Will this do?" With a thrust, Impulse opened the container and dumped the water at Overload. She tossed the now empty dispenser aside and took off as the monster screeched. It stumbled forward, considerably smaller.

Meteor stationed himself by a fire hydrant a short distance away. He punched into it with his rock solid hand. After a few hard hits, he managed to break through. Water exploded from the top. Syren gave a vocal thanks before concentrating on holding the water back for immense pressure.

"Go!" The blonde Atlantian yelled in a strained voice. In no time, Robin and Impulse cleared the area.

"Ha!" Syren forced forward, the water fully directed at the creature. Overload let out a ear-piercing scream as water entirely covered him. The noises rapidly dissipated as smoke filled the area. Once it cleared, all that remained was the full hand sized circuit board.

"Now why didn't we use this approach sooner?" Impulse replied, carefully catching her breath. She didn't want to admit that little sneak attack left her a bit winded. Robin picked up the empty water jug and carefully placed the barely sparking circuit board inside for temporary safe keeping.

"Would have been easier and faster." Meteor added after he pushed closed the hole in the fire hydrant. Water slowly dripped off the sides. A handful of people who had come out of hiding applauded on the heroic deeds while a few others looked slightly ticked on the damage that was left behind. The newest hero was especially apologetic to some of the expressions that were given towards them. However, Robin appeared to ignore the others around them.

"We need to get Overload back under full lock and key and figure out who released him… and the others." He added, watching a news van come in, "And we go now." He didn't have any arguments there.

….

* * *

><p>"After what you have seen with Zatanna and Static involving the plasma monster in Midway, much damage has been received. That was not the only report as other monsters have popped up in other cities such as Keystone and Ivy, with costumed heroes not far behind."<p>

The female reporter continued on, reporting on the big recent events of the day. "Could it be that these so called monsters and villains only appear to bring in these heroes and cause further issues for the rest of us? Charlotte Rivers reporting on this story. More details after the break."

Once the television droned on about a new car advertisement, the volume was muted. A figure in the dark room leaned against the desk where a bigger figure sat, studying the screen.

"The plan turned out much better than anticipated. And we may have gotten something for later use."

The sitting figure leaned forward, with elbows on the surface and hands clasped together while propped under his chin. "Excellent,"

* * *

><p><em>I'm so sorry if this chapter wasn't the best. Action scenes are not my forte. And again, I am deeply apologetic about the long wait for an update. School, work, and everything else inbetween put writing on hold for a while. I want to give a special shout out for that reminder from a reader to update. Hope it was worth it! <em>

_Questions, comments…. REVIEW! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Update... yay... Please don't hate me for the extended lateness... _

_Disclaimer: DC Universe characters belong to their respective owners. Of course not the handful of OC's…_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Just outside Chicago<strong>_

_**June 11 04:11 CDT**_

The morning dew sat peacefully, still untouched by the sun on the outskirts of the windy city. There was nearly no sound except for the occasional car motor speeding past on the nearby highway. A lone figure walked around the rubbish of a recent burned down building from the night before. The air still had a vagueness of smoke lingering about.

Manhunter, the former Miss Martian in her early hero years, examined the remaining wreckage of the small scientific lab once known for working on enhancing growth formulas as used for plants and other plant uses. Strands of her short auburn hair lightly flowed from the back of her head as she levitated from the ground to gain a height, her dark amber eyes carefully studying over the scene. M'gann landed gently in an area and telekinetically pushed over a large piece of a wall which crumbled along the edges when moved. Using a specialized scanner to detect any unusual components, she examined the area.

After a while of nothing, M'gann sighed and put the scanner away. She touched her earpiece, "Captain Atom, I was unable to find anything. More than likely sabotage. Nothing of worth left behind."

"That is what I feared." The voice on the other end paused for a moment before replying, "Return back to the tower."

"Affirmative," She pressed the receiver to silence the transmission. M'gann slugged her shoulders and sighed at the displacement. Surely there should have been something left behind, but by the looks of this, it was no accidental fire. It was an account of arson more than likely to cover up stolen experiments.

Taking one final look around, the Martian suddenly went stiff as a strange gust of wind caught her attention. Before she could turn to look around, a couple of small sharp objects were thrown at her from her left. Similar to bladed stars as one nearly grazed past directly in front of her face. Getting over the stun of the surprise, Manhunter immediately put up a defensive stance of her surroundings, mainly focused on the left side.

M'gann only saw a dark shape from the corner of her eye in the opposite direction before she found the lean, dark clothed individual upon her, attempting to sharply jab at various points of her body. Gathering mental strength, she telekinetically threw off her attacker, not caring which direction he was sent. So long as it was away from her space.

The foe rammed through a hole in a partial wall, a few bricks falling from the impact. With eyes narrowed and glowing white, M'gann wasted no time flying over to where her attacker landed. Her glare widened in shock and pupils returned to normal as no one was there. She checked her surroundings mentally for any sign of where her mysterious foe could have gone. _Nothing_. Not even a single being nearby.

This perplexed the Martian exceedingly. One moment her attacker was there, the next, it was like he never was in the first place. It was almost as if she was attacked by a ghost. Manhunter spent a few extra moments checking the area telepathically for anything. Just in case.

Subconsciously rubbing her arm, M'gann stayed on high alert as she took an alternate and longer route to the Zeta, taking extra precaution to use her personal camouflage mode. She was not quite able to shake off that random attack and the uncomfortable feeling it brought.

* * *

><p><em><strong>June 11<strong>_

_**The Cave 13:05 EST**_

The cave had a hum of activity as a handful of the team bustled about. Just the way Archiban Quintell liked it. Along with the old dark blue 98 Dodge Dakota before him. Although he found the truck abandoned for quite a while in a junk lot about ten miles away, with some help from Chris and K'dnn, the three managed to bring the rusting truck to the cave. Working on the Dodge for the past couple of weeks became an enjoyable hobby for Arch as the hood set open in front of him with various pieces disconnected and laying on the table or ground next to him.

It had been nice to have things calmed down again after that whole multiple monsters attack the previous week. Arch still felt the faint tingles of the electricity that had surged through his body as he thought about it. At least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He recalled the moments after Overload was taken down. Robin sent them out of there long before a bunch of news reporters could swarm in on the scene as it seemed to have happened more often when any of the heroes were involved.

"A touch of _verde_, green, would bring out your eyes more," The female green lantern suggested to her younger companion, giving some basic beauty tips.

The sixteen year old blonde shrugged off the advice. "I do not like to wear make-up. It tends to… dry out my skin."

Milagaro Reyes cocked her head to the side in thought. "Your being part Atlantian?" Ryla nodded in response.

Arch grinned to himself as he vaguely listened to Milagaro and Ryla stationed near the large television, chatting about girls stuff basically. He caught snip-its from the oldest and youngest heroines of the team about hair style tips and the cutest actors, ignoring their conversations for the most part. The fact that their presence was near and meekly comforting for him brought a small smile to his face.

Arch had been practically adopted into the gang when he had no idea what to do with his life after that "accident" that turned him into what he was today. He left behind his former life behind, feeling nothing would be left of it now. He gained some good friends with these heroes as they fashioned him to become one.

The tall young man with bright red spiky hair and red eyes gave a glance over at the new figure sitting a short distance away from the girls, a thick old book in his lap. The sixteen year old in a solid navy blue button down shirt and dark pants and shoes with pure black combed down hair and a few strands hanging on his forehead kept his attention to the text, but not without occasionally darting his green eyes in annoyance to the talkative girls across from him.

_Zachary Zatara._ Arch mentally reminded himself. This was the junior magician in training to the League's magician Zatanna. On discovery of his existence as somehow family to her a couple of years ago in Italy, a cousin or something, at least according to what Chris Kent had explained to him, Zatanna took it upon herself to take him in and train him. From what Arch learned so far upon seeing the young magician, Zack often kept to himself, almost seemingly loathing the fact that he was occasionally there with them. Arch wasn't sure, but he didn't think Zatara was part of the team. At least not officially yet.

Arch shrugged to himself and turned his attention back to the engine. The meta was finally able to unscrew the Carburetor. With a satisfied smile and grunt, he pulled out the piece with the old red rag and checked it for damages. He gave a low whistle to himself. For the appearance of an old battered pick-up, the carburetor stayed in pristine condition for the most part. He carefully placed it back into its place.

"Nice ride,"

Arch had bumped the back of his head on the hood at the surprise of an unfamiliar voice. He rubbed his head and stepped away from the truck before attempting to stand up straight and face the stranger before him. Her thick extra dark auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail as she peered over the engine with faint interest. Her outfit included a black leather jacket covering a maroon colored top and thick combat boots blending with her black pants. The fairly petite twenty-one year old peeked up at him with a smirk.

"I prefer motorcycles. Easier to get around with and ultimately faster in my opinion." She gave him a studying look. "You must be Comet."

Arch raised an eyebrow and gave a grim expression at the name.

"Meteor, whatever. Same difference," She corrected herself as she waved her hand submissively. She paused for a moment before continuing and gesturing to herself. "Speedy. And no, I'm not a speedster like one of the many around now."

Arch cracked a smile at the comment before searching through his mind of the familiarity. He stood up straighter once it came to him. "You're the original leader of this team."

"He speaks," Speedy smirked before answering, "Yup. The one and only. Looks like the team has been handling fairly well since I've been away." She peered back at the truck. "So, you think you can fix up this busted piece of junk?"

Arch shook his head and gave a small smile. "Nothing is truly busted if something can still be of use from it." The former leader nodded her head as she purged her lips in thought. He continued, "This truck is actually in pretty decent condition. Just needs a few touch ups."

Arch grew quiet as old desires came back to him. He had a passion for fixing cars and other similar machines, dreaming of one day opening his own repair shop. He glanced down at the rock hard texture for skin running down his one arm before pulling the black sleeve over it again to cover it. At least, that was his dream before that fateful moment with the collision of the meteor that made him into what he was today. Now he couldn't trust going into public for very long as himself. Hence why he tended to linger around the cave and busy himself with little projects such as the one in front of him. It was at least an enjoyable and useful hobby after all.

Speedy broke him out of his thoughts. "Not bad. You try out fixing bikes too?"

"Lian," A voice called in greeting from the side. The archer turned to greet Jai with a trademark smirk. Her cousin raised an eyebrow in response as he held a bottle of water in his hand. "Didn't think you'd be coming around here for a while. Pestering people again?"

Lian shrugged, giving a glance to Arch. "Just talking to the newbie." She put a hand on her hip and slightly cocked her head. "Seems to be doing pretty well with not having a true mentor and all."

Arch turned his attention back to the engine at that reminder. True, each of the others had a specific mentor similar to them to look up to. Most of what he suspected to be at least a parent or other close family figures. Where he didn't dare to be near any of his own anymore since all that happened. His pristine little family would be better thinking that he was gone. Whether they believed he took off to who knows where on his own or perhaps dead, he didn't care. In a way, the old Archiban was gone…

The meta pushed the degrading thought away before it could pursue further. He had plenty to look up to have offered plenty of help also outside of the Team. Red Robin, Static, and especially Blue Beetle had been the main ones to give him advice and offer some additional training while testing out his newly acquired abilities. He was able to learn how to almost completely control the extents of his energy blasts, including absorbing the energy which he discovered by accident when training a bit with Static. The past few months had run much better since the very beginning.

"I see the magician squirt is here." Lian took instant notice how Zack jerked up at her from across the room. She grinned as she spoke louder, "Enjoying being around others your age yet?"

Zack narrowed his eyes at the archer, gripping the covers of the book and almost closing it. Grumbling under his breath, the young mage marked his page and stood up, leaving the room in a huff. Ryla watched him leave with a loud sigh before giving Lian a look and shaking her head. Milagaro put a hand to her own head and faced down.

Lian shrugged in response. "Hey, he needs to learn to not be so serious and lighten up sometime, Princess." She turned away to nothing in particular as she added in a low voice, "He's worse than _D_ ever was,"

Standing next to her, Jai took a swig of water and honestly replied while pointing towards her with the cap in hand, "I beg to differ," The other three still in the room looked at each other in confusion to the reference before shrugging it off.

"Of course you would. Speaking of which, seen _Rob_ lately?"

Jai quietly huffed and resealed the cap of the bottle back on while he folded his arms at the mention of his leader. "Why do you think I'm still here if he's not?"

Lian gave the seventeen year old a stern look and lightly tapped her foot. Jai gave in with reluctance. "He's on a little assignment I think."

"Figures," The female archer rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm off. Suppose I'll be seeing you kiddies again at some point." Lian glanced at each hero as she spoke, "Later Princess, Reyes, Cuz," She paused at Arch and gave a wider grin. "Comet,"

**Recognized Steel C03, Zephyr C11. **

She began to walk off when Chris and K'dnn came through the Zeta Beams, the older holding something bulky in his hand as he waved with the other.

"Lian, long time no see,"

"Yup. And I am out to take care of some things. Later Supey," She paused to give K'dnn the biggest smirk before adding to the Martian's aggravation as he knew it was coming, "Marvin,"

**Recognized Speedy C01 **

The junior Man of Steel folded his arms and shook his head as he smiled. "She always liked to give nicknames to everyone." Chris explained to Arch as the nineteen year old had his eyebrow raised while still watching the Beams that she disappeared through.

"Mine was since learning of my dad's occasional nickname and his dad," Chris gestured to K'dnn standing next to him."Or my uncle, if I recall correctly." Steel paused in his musings to look at the taller young man with electric red hair. "It was always interesting with Lian around before she decided to go on the solo route."

"Leave a big enough impression for a first meeting?" K'dnn asked with a partial smirk.

Chris stood back as he recalled something, "Oh, you came in a few months after she left, didn't you?" Arch nodded in partial uncertainty.

"That's right, you did," The super assured, facing off a bit in the other direction in thought while grinning. "We had an interesting start as she led the newly formed team of Young Justice about four years ago."

Jai swirled the bottled drink in his hand while staring at it, instantly bored, "And now we start the history lesson," He vaguely pointed out to no one in particular. Chris completely ignored him, leaving the West twin to take his time to head back into the kitchen to avoid the long explanation.

Chris leaned against the side of the truck with one hand balancing him out, clearly focused in memories. "Young Justice originally started up with a Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Artemis, who are Irey and Jai's parents. Then there was also Superboy and Miss Martian," He gestured to his cousin, K'dnn, "His parents, all of them in their prime years. Since them, other members filtered in or out throughout the years until the team disbanded, a good portion of them growing up and moving on with their lives or joining the Justice League.

Years later, it was mainly brought up from the original members that a newly reformed Young Justice Team could come about as many young heroes are emerging, which was basically all of us. The new team was then created with Speedy or Lian, who you just met; she was the leader of the team for a long while before giving up her position to Robin to do the solo thing. Then there were the Tornado Twins who are the other speedster twins that both moved on now, our Robin, and of course me. Offspring, Plastic Man's son, was on the team for a short time, but he would rather goof off and do his own thing." Chris rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, "Ernie was quite the prankster."

Chris leaned off the truck after a minute to continue, "Even though members disbanded, others joined in through time. Many of who is still part of this team—"

"And don't forget Arthur jr." Ryla replied as she walked over to the guys.

Milagaro joined the blonde, the Green Lantern picked up where the Atlantian left off, "He was a member of the team before too. Even if it was more of an… _honorary_ position."She had momentarily paused to search for the right word.

Ryla met Arch's confused expression. She smiled as she added, "Aquaman's son, or rather the soon to be King of Atlantis most likely."

"Honorary position like Zachary Zatara?" Arch asked, trying to make connections.

Ryla slowly nodded in response as she thought about it. "Yes, basically," She pondered briefly before saying in an afterthought, "Arthur is kind of a fun guy, but stern at the same time. It is peculiar." The blonde blinked before turning to Chris with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, did I interrupt your little story?"

Milagaro and even Arch quietly chuckled at the face Chris gave Ryalani who just smiled back in spite. As Chris was about to open his mouth, K'dnn added in, "And Amistead Ervin. He never took the hero title, but he was a big part to the aid of the team with what you've always explained before, Chris," K'dnn pointed out.

Chris nodded quickly in agreement. "Most definitely. Amistead kept us connected and straightened out."

"He seemed like a really neat guy from the time or two I met him." Milagaro replied.

Chris turned to Arch, gaining the meta's full attention. "I think you would have really gotten along well with him. Ami liked working especially with little gadgets and gimmicks. Too bad he's fully focused on finally completing that robotics and engineering degree. Speaking of which,"

Chris, now remembering that he was holding a large, nearly unrecognizable piece of machinery in his hand, gave Arch a nod before tossing the item in the air towards him. The bright red head caught it easily with both hands.

K'dnn explained, "It was an old piece from one of the tractors."

"Maybe it could be of use for you somehow." Chris shrugged. "Sorry I didn't give it to you earlier."

"As you were stuck in memory lane," Milagaro lightly teased from the kitchen. She reached into the refrigerator and grabbed out two drinks, tossing one to Ryla who gave a quiet thanks.

Arch didn't respond as closed the hood of the Dodge with a creak and placed the old rag on top. He examined the piece carefully, a wide smile spreading across his face. Yes, he was certain that he could use this for something once he figured out exactly what.

The group chatted together further on the history of the heroes while the tall red-head grinned at the old piece of junk in his hands. Jai tossed the now empty plastic bottle into the trash, not caring that it missed the bag next to it for recyclables that Chris set up. The speedster set off aimlessly through the spacious cave hallways.

Jai pulled out a rubber ball from his pocket and begun tossing up in the air and catching it. He occasionally bounced it off the walls or tossing it from behind to catch it, all while lost in his thoughts. It was just four days ago that he and his sister graduated. And only a few more days and he'd be eighteen. Jai was ready to take on the world officially as an adult and get away from home and his superstar of a sister as everyone seemed to think of her as.

Jai grumbled to himself at the thought. _Of course after that little monster attack, Irey went on for not answering and 'potentially' putting Diana in danger when she handled herself just fine_. He thought to himself, rolling his eyes heavily while tightening his grip around the small ball, _I had my own problems to deal with when I finally found _her_ again. I will not lose her next time. _

Jai paused in mid-step as he realized his train of thought about the mysterious thief. Now he was sounding obsessed in taking down a specific villain. He just hated being taken by surprise by this seemingly ice-powered bandit while at the same time pumped to find a challenge that he would not let himself get bested by.

Soon, he found himself headed into the large 'gym' as the training room was sometimes dubbed. Walking past all sorts of equipment, including a couple balance beams, various targets and weights, Jai paused when he spotted Zack standing in front of one of the collection of punching bags, staring at it.

"You know, you'd get better use of it if you try perhaps, _punching_ it?" Jai lightly suggested while leaning against the wall, lightly tossing the ball in the air. Zack straightened in stature before turning towards the speedster.

"Obviously," He replied in annoyance, clenching his fists together. With a few hard and slow punches, Zach held back a grimace to do a few more. Jai lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Merely a suggestion, but you don't have to use so much force at the beginning."

Zatara backed away from the heavy bag, rubbing his hands to relieve some of the pain. He scoffed, "Here to taunt as well?"

Jai leaned off the wall and vaguely raised his hands in defense while not even looking at the magician. "I'm just saying, you'll wear yourself out much faster before any real damage could be done." He headed over to straighten up the few hanging bows on the wall. "Besides, Speedy has some experience through her tough exterior."

Jai mused in slight annoyance at himself. He was standing up for his cousin. Lian did have a small soft spot for him though and he for her. "She was right," He finally added, "You do need to lighten up some."

Zack rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the hanging bag. "I don't need to be told how to act-"

"No you don't." Jai replied quickly, giving him a firm nod, recalling advice he had heard a long time ago, not quite remembering from who. "You can listen to suggestion and sometimes wisdom from others, but you ultimately choose who you are and will be."

The barely younger of the West twins paused as he gave a studying look at Zatara, pondering his own words himself. "I think it's a good idea to get some additional training in, especially for regular combat. Never know when it will come in handy." He gestured to in front of Zack, "And this is the perfect way to get out some frustrations."

Jai turned to leave the room as he added in an after-thought, somewhat surprising himself, "Most of the team isn't that bad if you give them a chance."

* * *

><p><em>Again, much apologizes that you most likely don't even want to hear from me anymore about updating late. I will need to focus a ton for this semester and have been working a ton as well, so ahead of time, I'm sorry that I won't be able to update often. I am hoping as soon as the semester is done, I can go crazy in writing again! This story will not be left unfinished! I have tons of plans for it, although it will take time to complete it…<em>

_Now enough about my pathetic excuses. I focused more on Arch for this chapter for the main reason that he is an OC that has NO affiliation or similarity to any previous heroes. So this is a character completely brand new, both to the team and that he has to learn without a mentor as stated, but does have a handful that are ones to him in a way. Plus he needed to be explained better and he is a pretty neat character. I just hope I got him decently right creatorX33! _

_Any further questions, comments, suggestions…. Review! And please stick around for more! :D _


	6. AN

_AN:_

_Now this is not an end to this story. You have no idea how long of an outline and brainstormings I have for this thing. I just couldn't seem to write it with whatever else going on in life while trying to make this detailed of good quality. I will continue to write this when I can between various other projects and needs as I am now. Dawn of Exertion will only be put on hitas until I can make sure I have at the very least a majority of it written to be ready to start posting._

_Again, this story will only be put on the back burner for a while until I can really invest back into it. I promise! I need my inspiration back! Too much going on in my life to keep up with everything. I have invested too much into this and have so many ideas and future happenings that WILL NOT go to waste. It will just take time. Meanwhile, I will be continuing posting such as new updates on the West Family Chronicles and other potential one-shots and the like I keep getting ideas for. Much easier to work on those. So please, add alerts. And keep reading! I'll be back soon! :)_

_-Atica_


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